This site was created using MyHeritage.com. This is a great system that allows anyone like you and me to create a site for their family and even publish their family tree on the Internet.If you have any comments or feedback about this site, please click here to contact me.Our family tree is posted online on this site! There are 7295 names in our family site.The site was last updated on Aug 2 2015, and it currently has 358 registered member(s). If you wish to become a member too, please click here.

Much of the information on this site was compiled in 1987 by Margaret (Mrs. Russell) Golem and Ruth (Mrs. Melvin) Golem. Also contributing are Jay Nellis, Cheryl Robinette and Beth Baran. Additions and corrections will be welcome.

The 2012 Golem Reunion was held in Elmwood at the picnic shelter half a mile west of the flashing light, on Saturday August 26 from 2:00 pm until 8:00 pm. About 30 members of the family attended. There was a decision to hold the reunion every two years, however family events made it impossible to hold the 2014 reunion, and tentative plans are now to hold another reunion in 2015. Stay posted.

Russell and Margaret Golem attended the reunion in 2012 and in 2011. Margaret has provided some additional information about our roots. Gottfried (b 1820) and Christina (b 1849) are listed as passengers on the "vessell" Leibig, captained by Bornholdt, sailing from Hamburg on May 1, 1868, and landing in Quebec on July 2, 1868. While this information conflicts with the earlier information that the family landed in New York, both may be true since other members of the family travelled on another ship. So far, the search of ships records has not found Eva, John and Gottfried (born 1846). If anyone out there knows any details about that voyage, or perhaps two voyages, please contact me.

In the spring of 2011, I was able to make contact with Angela Tanner and Clyde Ziegler who both are related to living descendants of the Tchorsch family. There are family members living in the area of Alpena, Michigan, where Gottfried "Torsch" born Sept 19, 1854, settled and farmed after emigrating from Riesenkirch on Mar 29, 1881, sailing from the port of Bremen on the ship "Salier" and landing in New York. At first the family settled in Wayne County, but then moved to Alpena around 1900. He had six sons and four daughters, so there is a large family still living partly in that area.

In 2011 I contacted Regina Volkmann who lives in Germany, and who is an avid genealogist. She is a distant cousin, being a direct descendent of the Volkmann line in Riesenkirch where Louisa married Gottfried Manz. Their daughter, Anna Dorothea, married Jacob Krupp, whose daughter Eva married the second Gottfried Golem. There is a large family on Regina's side which includes other family lines called Philipowski, Klein, Kruger, Zerwer and Priebe.

During 2011 I did a yDNA test which can predict distant origins. The Golem line appears to have come from the area north of the Danube River, perhaps having specific origins there about 20,000 years ago. DNA testing is really in its early stages with much work continuing, so I have joined a project which hopes to uncover more specific results as time goes by. The Golem "Haplogroup" is I2a2 (that is a capital i, not a 1), and probably I2a2a called Dinaric. If it is the latter, the origins are about 8,000 years ago.

It is with celebration that we mark the birth of Cali on May 6, to son Kevin and Vangeline. This is my first Grandchild. I may be biased, but I assert she is a beautiful baby. There are many happy days ahead as we all grow together as a loving family.

It is with sadness that we note the passing of Mildred Golem on March 24, 2015, at the grand age of 98 years. She is the daughter of William Golem (1886-1975) and Rubina Elizabeth (Ruby) Heft (1893- ?). The funeral is to be held on Saturday, March 28. For details contact her daughter Elaine Begg at elainebegg1@sympatico.ca

It is with sadness we mark the passing of the last member of Father's immediate family. Uncle Wilfred was in his 90th year. The last few weeks were difficult for him and those closest to him, as it was obvious that his end was nearing. Our thoughts are with Aunt Marion, Dennis and Donald, and their families. The funeral is to take place on Wednesday, September 3 at 2:00 pm at St. Marks Lutheran Church in Chesley, with internment at Chesley Cemetery. As Cousin Jim said the other day: "We are now the older generation.".

It is Jan 1, 2014, and the start of another year. Over the past year we have found new information about our family, and, as always, we have high hopes that more information will come to light in the coming months.

During the last year I have been in contact with three people who have helped fill in some missing pieces to various puzzles. Elaine King (nee McKinnon) grew up two farms away from us and she contacted me to say that she had always believed that our families were related, and so they are. She contacted Ken Monk and Pamala Huizenga who have worked on genealogy for families from the Chesley, Elmwood and surrounding area. Pamala sent me a genealogical record of the Lipskie family which ties together literally dozens of the people whose names were part of household conversation while I was growing up, and which spells out the connections between and among the families who settled there after emigrating from West Prussia sometime between 1850 and 1885. Most of th...

I have just finished reading "God's Playground: A History of Poland" by Norman Davies. This is the first of two volumes, and deals with a very well researched review of the history of middle Europe from early times up to 1785. The latter date is significant since it approximates the third partitioning of the Polish territories. The book chronicals the many, many wars and uprisings that tore this part of Europe to pieces over the prior three centuries. The territory around Riesenkirch, West Prussia, was in constant flux, and although it seems it remained generally in the hands of Prussia, the entire countryside was mauled by Russian armies, Swedish soldiers, Austrian military thrusts, and attempts at invasion by the Ottoman Empire. In retrospect, it is hard to imagine how any of our ancestors could have survived in this chaos. In 1794 alone, the Russian army slaughtered some 20,000 people in Praga, an outskirt of Danzig (Gdansk today) only about 40 kilometres nor...

Joel Penfold, son of Allan and Jackie (Dirstein) Penfold married Corrinna Terwoord in Walkerton, on Sept. 22, 2012, at Trinity Lutheran Church. Joel is a Grandson of the late John L. Dirstein and the late Florence (Bluhm) Dirstein of Hanover, and a Grandson of Earl and Della (Hamilton) Penfold of Hanover.

While I grieve for her, it is with some relief that I tell you all that Mother passed out of this life about 9:30 pm this day October 10, 2010. She was the best Mother anyone could have wished to have. At 96 years of age she was prepared for her end and secure in her Faith in God. The last couple of days were difficult for her, and for the immediate family, as congestive heart failure slowly took her from us. But I know that she faced the end with the same stoic determination that characterized most of her life. She was a fighter, an acedemic, a philosopher, a down to earth worker, and the kindest, most understanding person that any of the many people she touched, could hope to meet. I will miss her forever.

It is with sadness that we note the passing of Ruth Golem on Dec 4, 2009, after an extended period of illness. She, together with Margaret Alles (Mrs. Russell Golem), did much of the research into the genealogy of the Golem family, and they published the "Golem Family History" in 1987. Personally, I am indebted to her for her contribution in searching for, and recording, the history of our family, and in sparking my own interest in furthering that work. Ruth, we will remember you always.

At Dec 1, 2009, there are 31 Bluhms listed on the website. A number of Bluhms in North America have record of emigrating from Germany from towns in the immediate area of Riesenkirch where the Golem records exist. Many of those Bluhms settled at first in Sullivan and Bentick Townships in Ontario, and raised families, some of whom still live in the Chesley area.

German towns called Marienwerder, Garnsee, Seubersdorf, Nogath, Neudorfchen, Wallenburg and Bischdorf all are located within about 15 miles of Riesenkirch, which would have been an easy day trip by horse and buggy during the 1850's. Bluhms and Golems and Lipskies came to Canada from these towns, many arriving in Ontario late in the 1860's and early in the 1870's. There are other families who may also have come from the same area of Germany, but I will not include them until there is more evidence.

If anyone has information which you think might support family connections in Germany prior to em...

I'm learning new details and capabilities of this site. There are a lot of possibilities.

Keith suggested that we establish separate photo albums so we don't have one big mish mash of pictures. I have added one for each family, excepting Norman, which I can do later if we have any pictures.

Other albums could be added if needed. For example, I have photos of Caroline Golem and Michael Bluhm who moved to Oregon. There are many relatives out there who may want to add photos, and Beth Baran is a decendent of Jacob Golem whose sons settled in Tonawanda, and I have some pictures of her side of the family which she may want to add.

If anyone can suggest an improvement to this system please let me know.